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There is a terrible, terrible thing going on in business today. It might even be
happening to you, in your very organization. Unfortunately, it is well intentioned...but
far too shortsighted.
It has always been my understanding that accountants are supposed to work with numbers.
That physicians treat patients. That teachers teach students. That cooks prepare
food.
But what about salespeople? Aren't salespeople supposed to sell their products or
services? How many salespeople do very little of that...and, instead, are expected
to wrestle with reports, data, paperwork, computers, delivery, customer service,
technical support, administrative or even operational issues?
Over the course of the last decade I have heard an all too familiar refrain. It always
seems to follow the same trend. And here it is,"I'm not selling anymore. I've
become a clerk." One of the culprits here? Commonly known as "Sales Force
Automation," salespeople have to spend inordinate amounts of their time struggling
with computer systems that start out as a simple, data tracking tool for their benefit
and end up as the source of information for marketing, product management, pricing
and more. Salespeople, as a consequence, don't sell. Instead, they do everything
but prospect, sell and service accounts.
The price that is paid is huge. Less selling time, resentment, confusion and diffused
effort on the part of salespeople. In its simplest terms, we have made"results-oriented
people" (salespeople) into"process oriented people" (bureaucrats)
who feel like they have been transformed into staff people whose function is to provide
services to people who need them.
Does that mean that salespeople are above such tasks? No. It simply means that salespeople
may not be providing the greatest value to their organization.
Think about this. How much face-to-face selling time do you or the salespeople in
your organization really get? I don't mean time preparing for appointments. I also
don't mean time in meetings, processing paperwork, handling details or inputting
data. I mean hard-core, nose-to-nose selling.
Let's take a look at a quick, not so scientific audit to analyze things. As a salesperson,
how many hours do you spend weekly:
- Handling paperwork?
- Inputting data into
a computer?
- Attending meetings?
- Interfacing with
support staff?
- Solving customer
problems?
- Handling assigned,
non-sales duties?
- Dealing with office
politics?
- Providing information
to others?
- Traveling?
- Prospecting for business?
- Face-to-face (or
ear-to-ear) selling?
If you are like lots
of people I know, you are spending far too much time on tasks that are not at all
directly related to what you are supposed to be doing.
I have long been an advocate of sales assistants to help salespeople handle the details
related to sales. I have also been a zealot for simpler, easier sales contact/automation
systems. I have also urged that organizations take a hard look at what non-sales
related functions are expected to be done by salespeople - and eliminate them. Easier
said than done, you say?
I don't think so. Let's take a look at some real how-to's here:
1. Log your time.
Actually record, hour-by-hour, what you do with your time for a one-week period.
Be brutally honest with yourself. Determine how productive you really are.
2. Discuss your results with superiors. They may be shocked, too!
3. Determine how many sales opportunities have been lost - and what stole them
from you. Was it paperwork, meetings, unrelated requirements, customer complaints,
delivery glitches, computer problems?
4. Determine what the average sale is worth to your organization - and see how
much revenue or opportunity has been lost just for one week. Then multiply it
by 50 weeks per year!
There is no doubt
that organizations and their complexity have both increased. Laser printers and computers
have made the amount of paperwork that can be generated grow by leaps and bounds.
Sales Force Automation Systems have, in many cases, collapsed under their own weight
if not carefully analyzed and designed correctly. Unfortunately, the last ones to
be consulted on their effectiveness and ease of use are the salespeople who will
be expected to use them.
Analyze your situation and determine if you spend your time prospecting and selling
- or if you are a clerk, meeting attendee or data gatherer for other people. The
answers might surprise you.
Bill
Brooks is CEO of The Brooks Group, an international sales training and business
growth firm based in Greensboro NC. For more information visit www.thebrooksgroup.com.
If you would like to receive The Brooks Group's free e-mail monthly sales or sales
management newsletter e-mail:
Barbara@thebrooksgroup.com or call The Brooks Group at
800-633-7762.
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